Staff at the Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua (ERHK) are giving blood to help restock the hospital’s blood bank, which has been severely impacted by a severe blood shortage..
It was at the height of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 that the hospital began to experience a lack of blood.
However, there has been no major improvement in the situation, prompting the hospital’s administration to rely on its employees to restock the blood bank.
The Medical Director Dr. Arko Akoto Ampaw and other doctors, nurses and midwives have been donating blood to save lives of their patients.
The blood donation campaign initiated by Management of the Hospital dubbed; “A Pint of Blood to Save Lives” recently saw staff at the Obstetric & Gynaecology, and the Paediatric Department donate pints blood for the for bank.
Other departments at the hospital are expected to take their turn in subsequent days.
Ghana has failed to achieve 100 per cent voluntary blood donation status as required by the World Health Organization (WHO) albeit increasing demand for blood transfusion.
Statistics from the WHO indicates that only 62 countries globally have almost achieved the 100 per cent of their national blood supplies from voluntary unpaid blood donations, with thirty-four others including Ghana still dependent on family replacement blood donors.
The government of Ghana’s failure to adopt the National Blood Service Bill, which tries to provide the legislative framework necessary to speed the country’s progress toward 100 percent voluntary blood donation, is exacerbating the country’s humanitarian crisis.